Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

Abstract

This portfolio reads literary narratives through the lens of feminist trauma theory to critique how institutional powers like heteronormativity, misogyny, and racism shape the production and perception of trauma. Centering works by women writers (with an exception in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight) it examines how experiences such as childbirth, racial respectability, and gendered identity formation are silenced or pathologized under dominant frameworks, particularly the medicalization of trauma. Drawing on scholars like Laura Brown and Lucy Thompson, the portfolio challenges the white, male-centric origins of PTSD and critiques the expectation of “wholeness” imposed on women in both literature and real life. By revisiting Freudian trauma theory while resisting its limitations, these essays trace how literary texts reveal trauma not as an individual failure but as a collective reckoning with systemic violence. The portfolio argues for an intersectional and inclusive trauma theory that accounts for the structural forces that render women’s suffering invisible, while questioning the very possibility of recovery in a world that demands silence and normalization.

Specialization

Literary and Textual Studies

First reader

Dr. Stephannie Gearhart

Second reader

Dr. Rachel Walsh

Publication Date

Spring 5-2-2025

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